Method and apparatus for tracking objects in flight such as golf balls and the like

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for tracking an object associated with an sports event or activity, such as a golf ball and the like, includes a GPS receiver incorporated in the ball and receiving GPS signals from a satellite. A processor generates data related to the position of ball and generates data indicative of the location as a function of time. The data is then stored in the ball or a server. A processor receives the data and uses it to generate two- and three-dimensional renditions of the flight of the ball during a game, or game portions. For example, a display may show a graphic image incorporating the path of the ball, its current location on a map of the course, its location after it stopped moving (so that it can be found easily) and so on.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of Invention

This invention is related to the field of sports, and especially to sports wherein it is desirable to track the motion of an object such as a ball. Such sports include golf, football, baseball, tennis, hockey and so on. In the present invention the tracked object is provided with an electronic module that determines the instantaneous position of the ball and transmits or downloads it to a ground station for processing and display.

B. Description of the Prior Art

In many sports, it is desirable to track the path of a ball or other object in motion. This tracking may be useful for training purposes, for providing statistical information to players and spectators, for finding the object, and so on. To date devices were made that were able to provide some rudimentary information, such as the top speed of a baseball or a tennis ball after it has been hit.

While this information may some use, more complete data is sometimes needed. For example, like any other activity, golf is a sport in which a person can become proficient only after intensive practice coupled with proactive review of the person's performance. To this end, many training devices have been proposed to assist a person in his training. For example, video cameras are frequently used to record a person's performance. After a practice session, a person can review the recording by himself, with another player or a trainer and try to determine his performance. However, in many instances, all one can see on these recordings are the motions of the person. The ball itself moves too fast to be actually seen and therefore it is difficult to determine how high and how far the ball flew.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention, an apparatus is provided for monitoring the motion of a ball or other object during a sports activity. The apparatus includes an electronic module with a GPS signal receiver disposed in the ball. In one embodiment, the GPS signals are stored in the ball and then downloaded into a display device at a later time. Data from one or more players can be collected and displayed either numerically or graphically. The data is then used by players, trainers, and others to review a single shot from a single player, all the shots of the player during a game, the shots from several players, and so on.

In another embodiment, several ground stations are provided on a golf course that receive data from one or more balls and transmit the data to a server and/or other offsite equipment such as a PC. In this arrangement, the flights of the balls can be reviewed live (real time) or at a later time.

In another embodiment, information downloaded from the ball is also used to locate the ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a somewhat diagrammatic depiction of a ball in flight, collecting data and being monitored in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 shows diagrammatically the equipment used to download data from the ball during its flight;

FIG. 3 shows a display illustrating simultaneously, the flights of several balls;

FIG. 4 shows a three-dimensional display of the hits or strokes of a player for a particular hole; and

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an invention in which the system includes a ball associated with a base station disposed on the golf course, or incorporated into a portable device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus 10 for ball tracking. The various elements are show to facilitate the description of the invention and obviously they are not to scale. According to this invention, a person P hits ball 12 with a golf club 14. The ball follows a trajectory so that after some time it is in flight at position 12′ and finally it falls to the ground as shown at 12″. The ball 12 includes an electronic module 18 that performs certain measurements and interchanges data with other elements of the apparatus as described below. The module 18 is preferably imbedded inside the ball 12. The module 18 receives signals from a satellite 20. (Preferably the ball 12 receives signals from several satellites, so that its position can be pinpointed accurately, using GPS technology, however in FIG. 1 a single satellite is shown for the sake of clarity).

In one embodiment, as the ball 12′ is flying, it sends data to a plurality of ground stations 16. Depending on the size of the golf course, and various other factors, the golf course can have a single ground station 16, or several ground stations may be deployed around the golf course and positioned so that they can receive data from either one ball 12 or several such balls, during the course of a day. Each of the ground stations 16 transmits data to a data collection server 22. Communications between server 22 and ground stations 16 can be wired or wireless.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic module 18 includes a satellite interface 102, a position processor 104, a memory 106 and a base interface 108. Optionally, the module 18 also includes a ball accelerometer 110 that could be a a MEMS device and generates signals indicative of acceleration along two or three orthogonal directions.

Returning to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, the data from one or more balls 12 is either saved by the server 22 or immediately transmitted to a PC 24. The PC 24 is associated with a screen 26 for displaying various information, as discussed in more details below. In another embodiment, the server 22 stores the information in a data base 28 and one or more players can access the data base 28 at will and receive the information. The server 22 and/or PC 24 can be on the golf course, in the club house or offsite. For example, the PC 24 may be located in a player's house or office. The purpose of the system 10 is to provide the player, trainer, or interested parties (for example, the manufacturers of golf clubs, golf balls, golf course managers, etc.) detailed information describing how many strokes were taken at each hole by one or more players, the path of the ball 12 after each stroke, etc.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the ground station 16 includes a ball interface 112 receiving or exchanging signals with the base interface 108 of the module 18.

The base station sends the information to a server 22 via modem 114.

PC 24 includes modem 120, processor 126, memory 124 and is associated with the screen 26.

In one mode, the apparatus 10 operates as follows. When or immediately after the ball is hit, its module 18 starts collecting data to determine its current position. As part of this process, the satellite interface 102 receives GPS signals from three or more satellites, such as satellite 20. Preferably, these signals are used by position processor 104 to determine the instantaneous or current position of the ball 12 using standard GPS algorithms. This position is stored in the memory 106 and then sent through base interface 108, and the ground station 16 to server 22. The server either stores the data in data base 28 or sends it on to the PC 24.

The PC 24 can show the information in real time, but preferably it stores the information, or retrieve information on demand from the data base server. When one or more players complete their game, they return to the club house or the other site where the PC 24 is located and request that the information be displayed. The PC 24 then displays the information in one or more formats, as required. More specifically, the processor 126 and screen 26 are adapted to generate a graphic representation of the golf course with the actual position of the ball superimposed thereon. Alternatively, or in addition, the screen 26 may be used to show the position of the ball as numerical data. The position of the ball may be presented in terms of its geographic coordinates and height. The displays may be generated individually for each player, or for several players at once, so that a direct comparison may be made between the players' performance. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate some of the displays that may be generated. In FIG. 3, three players Max, Pete and Joe are playing hole 11 and, as shown in the Fig., Max gets the ball in the hole in three shots and Pete gets the ball in the hole in four shots. Joe overshoots and therefore has to put back to the hole, for a total of five shots. The height and distance of each shot are clearly indicated on the display. FIG. 4 shows a 3D representation of a golfer playing hole 13. Again, the height and distance of each shot are clearly marked.

As mentioned above, the PC 24 could be in a remote site, for example, in the player's home. In this case, the player goes home after the game, gets access to the data base 28, downloads the information describing his shots, and then reviews his game on his PC 24.

Preferably all calculations for determining the current position of the ball 12 are performed by position processor 104, and therefore the information sent to the ground stations 16 consist of the actual positions of the ball as a function of time. The calculations and accuracy of the real-time position parameters of the ball can be improved easily if the current acceleration of the ball is known (preferably in three dimensions). For this purpose, the ball 18 may include an optional ball accelerometer 110. Accelerometers of this kind are readily available and are implemented using MEMs technology.

In one embodiment, the position processor 104 generates a first estimate of its position using the information from the accelerometer 110. The processor 104 then compares this parameter to the GPS-derived position indicated by the GPS signals. When the calculated position and GPS-derived position are within a predetermined range of each other (e.g. 10%) then a true position signal is generated from either the calculated or the GPS-derived position signal and sent to the base station. Alternatively an average of the calculated and the GPS-derived position signals is calculated and used as the true position signal.

In addition, the signals from the ball accelerometer 110 are used as an indication that the ball has been hit and is in flight, and therefore the calculations for determining the current real-time ball position can start. Moreover, the accelerometer 110 can also be used to detect when the ball has landed and therefore the calculations can be suspended.

In another embodiment, the position processor 104 normally operates only on the data from the satellites. The data from the accelerometer 110 is collected and stored in the memory 106. However, if the data from the satellites is interrupted temporarily, for example, because of interference from trees, or other obstructions, the processor 104 switches over and uses information from the accelerometer 110.

If the position processor 104 is not powerful enough it may not be used to calculated the current or instantaneous position of the ball. Instead, the position processor collects raw data based on receptions from the satellites 20 (and, optionally, ball accelerometer 110). The raw data is then downloaded in to the data base 28 or PC 24 and the PC processor 126 then uses this raw data to convert this raw data into concrete physical location coordinates.

In one embodiment, the processors 126 and 104 are in constant communication with each other, at least during the flight of the ball, so that they coordinate and update data related to the position of the ball. Alternatively, the data communication is one way. That is, information is only downloaded from the ball 12 to the PC 24 and no communication is returned to the ball.

In one embodiment, data is exchanged between the ball and the base station or PC 24 or downloaded from the ball throughout the flight of the ball. However, it should be realized that the purpose of the invention is to provide information and feedback to a golfer in how he is doing and what progress has he made. Therefore, while monitoring and tracking the position of the ball real-time is interesting and exciting, it is not really necessary. It may be sufficient to provide the golfer with information after the ball has landed and has come to a stop. Therefore, in another embodiment, the position of the ball is tracked but the information is not downloaded or displayed until a later time. For example, the position and track can be shown after the ball has stopped, in response to a request from the golfer as discussed above, or even several hours after the game is over.

In one embodiment, instead of downloading information during or right after the ball is flying (including actual position data as a function of time or raw data from the satellites), the information is stored in memory 106. When a player finishes his game, he then takes the ball 12A to one of the PCs 24 (located at the club house or off the premises (including his house). The ball then communicates either by wireless means, or through a wired connection (for example, through a socket in the ball that is normally covered (not shown) to protect the electronics during flight. The data is loaded into the PC 24 through a direct ball/PC interface 30 (shown in FIG. 1).

In one embodiment, especially useful at golf ranges, or other sites were training is performed, the PC 24 and a ground station 16 are incorporated into a single physical unit acting as a base station 25. One such base station is shown in FIG. 5. The base station 25 includes the ball interface 122, memory 124, processor 126, screen 128 and a keyboard or other data entry means 130. The base station 25 communicates with a ball 12 (either during flight, or after it has dropped) through ball interface 122. The data from the ball is then processed by processor 126, stored in memory 124, and shown on the screen 128 automatically, or on demand from the player received through keyboard 130.

In one embodiment, an accelerometer 140 is also mounted on, or otherwise associated with the golf club. One such arrangement is shown in U.S. Patent Application 20050107180. The accelerometer provides information regarding the initial acceleration of the ball 12, e.g., during and right after it has been hit. This information is also incorporated in the data associated with the ball 12 and used to determine and describe its flight.

The base station 25 can be a dedicated local hardware device disposed adjacent to tee, at a pro-shop, or in a training school, in the office of the trainer, and so on.

One of the problems that golfers have is that frequently they lose the ball, especially if it rolls off the course or into tall vegetation. In one embodiment of the invention, the current position of the ball is indicated after it has dropped and has come to a stop. With this information, the golfer can easily locate the ball. It should be noted that this feature of the invention can be implemented as an integral part of the process of tracking the flight of the ball, or completely independently of it. In other words, the ball locating feature can be active even if the apparatus does not track and display the current position of the ball during flight. For this embodiment, the base station 25 is implemented in a portable device such as laptop, tablet, palmtop device or other similar device.

The base station 25 can also be attached to a golf cart or a golf bag. This latter configuration is particularly useful on conjunction with the ball finding feature.

For these embodiment, once the ball comes to a stop, its position is flagged by the base station 16. The base station 25 is then configured with its own GPS module 132 so that it becomes a navigational guide using the ball as the target or destination. In other words, if the golfer wants to find the ball, he gets instructions to do so from the base station 25 that generates instructions using its GPS module 132, or based on information received from an external GPS module. The directions are provided by either rendering a map of the golf course with an indication of the ball location superimposed thereon, by providing a bearing mark such an arrow indicating the ball direction, or other similar means. By following the arrow, the golfer can locate the ball.

To summarize, in the embodiments described above, the flight and/or current location information is downloaded either on the fly to the base station, or immediately after the ball stops moving. In an alternate embodiment, this data is stored in memory 106 until the end of the game, or until the end of the day. Then communication is established between the ball 12 and the base station, or other memory, data processing or networking means and the data is then downloaded either into the memory 124, data base 28 or a central storage memory (not shown). Thereafter, the data becomes available over a network to a PC, a palmtop or any other similar device so that a trainer or the golfer can display and review it at any time. The data can also be made available on an intra-or Internet to virtually any location in the world.

While the invention was described in detail in association with the game of golf, obviously it can be used for other sports activities as well which involve or concentrate on the movement of a ball, puck or other sports-related object, such as baseball, tennis, hockey, field hockey, and so on. Therefore the term ‘ball’ as used herein is meant to cover other objects involved in various sports-related activities, wherein the goal of the activity is to move the objects around in two or three dimensions.

Obviously numerous modifications may be made to this invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A tracking apparatus used in sports-related activities comprising: a sports-related object that moves in a random fashion during said activities, said object including a housing and an electronic module imbedded in said housing, said electronic module including a receiver receiving GPS signals; a processor receiving said GPS signals and using said GPS signals to generate data descriptive a path of motion for said sports-related object; and a screen receiving and showing the location of the object based on said data.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said processor is disposed in said sports-related object.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a remote PC, said processor being incorporated in said remote PC.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said PC includes said display.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said screen receives and shows said location in real time.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said display receives and shows said location at a later time after the completion of a sports event or section thereof.
 7. An apparatus for tracking the position of a ball and the like during a sports-related activity comprising: an electronic module disposed in the ball, said electronic module including a receiver receiving GPS signals from at least one satellite; a processor receiving information related to the position of the ball based on said GPS signals and generating data related to the position of said ball and derived from said GPS signals; and a screen receiving said data and showing information related to the position of the ball.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said processor is incorporated in said ball.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a base station incorporating said display.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said processor is incorporated in said base station.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said processor and said display cooperate to show said information in real time.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said processor and said screen cooperate to show said information after said ball has completed its flight.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said base station is incorporated in a hand-held device.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said base station is constructed to provide instructions for finding said ball based on said information after said ball has completed its flight.
 15. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a ball accelerometer incorporated into said ball, said processor receiving acceleration information from said ball accelerometer and generating said data in accordance with said GPS information and said acceleration information.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein said processor is adapted to augment information from said GPS signals with information from said ball accelerometer.
 17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said ball is hit with a golf club, further comprising a club accelerometer, said club accelerometer generating club information related to the initial motion of the ball, wherein said club information is combined with GPS information.
 18. A method of tracking a ball with an incorporated electronic module comprising the steps: receiving GPS data in said ball from at least one GPS satellite; determining a position of the ball in accordance with said GPS data; and displaying information associated with a path of said ball in accordance with said position.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said position is determined in said ball.
 20. The method of claim 18 wherein said position is determined in a base station. 